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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 82 - catur-bAhuh.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • December 26, 2002 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 82 - catur-bAhuh.

772. catur-bAhuh – The Four-armed.

Om catur-bAhave namah.

This nAma is equivalent to the nAma 142 (Slokam 15) – catur-bhujah.  
It has been pointed out earlier that SrI BhaTTar interprets different groups of
nAma-s as connected to each other in a string that describes a particular form or incarnation of bhagavAn.  nAma 142 occurs in the segment where he
describes bhagavAnÂ’s vyUha incarnations, and the current nAma (772) is
in the segment where he is having anubhavam of the vibhava incarnation
of Lord kRshNa.  Correspondingly, his interpretation of nAma 142 refers to
bhagavAn's vyUha incarnation with four arms, and the current
interpretation refers to His vibhava incarnation in His birth to devaki as child kRshNa with four arms.  Several references are given under both the nAma-s in support.  

Under nAma 142 in Slokam 15, catur-bhujah, SrI BhaTTar gives the
following references:

-	“catur-bhujam udArA’ngam cakrAdyAyudha bhUshaNam” (vishNu purANam); 
-	“tamasah paramo dhAtA Sa’nkha cakra gadhA-dharah” (SrImad rAmA.
yuddha. 114.15); 
-	“bhujair-caturbhih sametam” (mahA bhArata moksha. 5.34).   

For the current nAma, catur-bAhuh, where the interpretation is in terms
of the kRshNa incarnation, we have a reference to His appearance as child kRshNa to devaki with the four arms etc., in SrImad bhAgavatam - tam adbhutam bAlakam ambujekshaNam catur-bhujamÂ…. (SrImad bhAgavatam 10.3.9).   SrI BhaTTar
gives reference to vishNu purANam in support, as devaki describes Him
soon after He was born:

	upasamhara sarvAtman rUpametat catur-bhujam     |
	jAnAtu mAÂ’vatAram te kamsoÂ’yam diti-janmajah     ||   (V.P. 5.3.13)

“O The Inner Soul of all beings! Please withdraw this four-armed form
within Yourself.  Let not this kamsa that belongs to the asura race
know that you are the incarnation of vishNu”.  

nammAzhvAr refers to Him as nAngu tOLan - tiruvAimozhi 8.8.1 (v.v.
rAmAnujan).  It is as if He has four long arms instead of the normal
two, just to embrace AzhVar!  

In gItA Sloka-s 11.45 and 11.46, arjuna refers to His divine form with
four hands:

	kirITinam gadinam cakra hastam icchAmi tvAm drshTum aham tathaiva   |
        tenaiva rUpeNa catur-bhujena sahasra bAho bhava viSva mUrte  ||

“I wish to see You adorned in the same way (as before) with crown and
with mace and discus in hand.  Assume again that four-armed shape (that
is, in the divine form of vishNu – deva rUpam as mentioned in the
previous Slokam), O Thou Universal Being with the thousand-arms”.  
ANDAL describes Him as “Ir IraNDu Mal varait tOL Se’nKaN tiru mugattu
Selvat  tirumAl” (tiruppAvai 30).  PerukkAraNai SrI cakravartyAcArya’s
anubhavam is that the four arms for bestowing the four purushAtha-s.  
It is as if He just keeps increasing the number of arms as needed, to
carry many more weapons to protect His devotees as occasion demands. 
Thus, when He came to protect gajendra, He came with eight arms; 
sudarSana AzhvAr that He carries has 16 arms, and 16 weapons in those
hands (SrI shoDaSAyudha stotram of svAmi deSikan).  tirumaÂ’ngai AzhvAr
also refers to His four arms in periya tirumozh 8.1.1 – “malai ila’ngu
tOL nAngE maRRu avanukku! eRRE kAN”.

SrI SaÂ’nkara points out that the nAma catur-bAhuh is traditionally
reserved for vAsudeva (recall SaÂ’nkha cakra gadA pANe
dvArakA-nilayAcyuta govinda apuNDarIkAksha raksha mAm SaraNAgatam).  
SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points out that vishNu is typically personified
with SaÂ’nkha, cakra, gadA, and either lotus or dhanus in the four
hands.  

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the reference to SrImad bhAgavatam
describing bhagavAn as One with Four arms:  

-	catur-bhujah SaÂ’nkha gadAbja cakrah piSaÂ’nga vAsA nalinAyatekshaNah
(bhAga. 8.18.1); 
-	tam adbhutam bAlakam ambujekshaNam catur-bhujam SaÂ’nkha
gadAyudAryudham  (bhAga. 10.3.9).   

Under Slokam 15, SrI cinmAyananda describes the four arms of bhagavAn
carrying the SaÂ’nkha, cakra, gadA, and padmam.  These are meant for
maintaining dharma among mankind.  The conch calls man to the righteous
path that directly leads to Peace and Perfection, to His Lotus Feet. 
But most of us, in the enchantment of the immediate sense-joys, refuse
to listen to the small inner voice of conscience from His conch.  For
those, He wields the Mace (gadA) very gently, and we suffer small
calamities and tragic jerks in our otherwise smooth existence, in the
form of communal, social or national calamities.  If still the
individual is not listening to the call of the “conch”, then the cakra
- the Wheel of Time, annihilates the entire being.  The call and the
punishment are all only to take man towards his Ultimate Goal,
represented by the “padma” in His hand.  

For the nAma catur-bAhuh, SrI cinmayAnandaÂ’s anubhavam is that the four
hands represent the four factors that together constitute the inner
equipments in man – mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), thought flow
towards objects (citta), and ego (ahamkAra).  These are the four agents
through which all the physical activities are controlled, regulated,
and constantly commanded from within the body.   SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri
gives the following support: "sattvam rajas tama iti
aha~nkAraScaturbhujah (gopAlottaratApini 55).

A related explanation is that the Self functions in a four-fold pattern
involving mind, intellect, cit, and ego, and these are represented by
the four arms containing the conch, the mace, the cakra, and the padma.
The cit is represented by the Lotus or Padma, the intellect is the
'Conch', ego is the 'Mace', and mind is the 'Discus'.
For catur-bhujah, SrI satya sandha yatirAja has given the following
interpretations:  

    1.	bhunÂ’gte bhunakti iti bhujah;  caturNAm dharma artha kAma mokshANAm
bhujah catur-bhujah – vishNu is catur-bhujah since He makes dharma,
artha, kAma, and moksha to be experienced by the deserved.

    2.	caturbhyah vedebhyah bhavati iti catur-bhug j~nAnam tena jAyate
abhityAjyate iti catur-bhujah – vishNu is known as catur-bhujah since
He can only be known by the four veda-s.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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